Former roommate charged in backyard burial case

A South Carolina man has been arrested and charged with murder after the body of his former roommate was discovered buried beneath a fire pit. The Myrtle Beach murder case, which had remained unsolved for over two years, took a grim turn when authorities found human remains in June.

Penni Whiteside, 51, had been missing since early 2022. In August 2024, law enforcement officials arrested Sheridan Dirk Fogle, 54, in connection with her death. Fogle, who shared a residence with Whiteside at the time of her disappearance, now faces murder charges.

The Myrtle Beach Police Department issued a statement highlighting the development of the case. According to USA Today, official records indicate Whiteside was last seen in the spring of 2022. The investigation initiated after her disappearance lasted more than two years before concluding.

Social media records indicate Whiteside had been considering relocating from Surfside Beach to Myrtle Beach as early as April 2021. According to a now-inaccessible listing on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, the last contact with Whiteside was on Jan. 3, 2022. By May 2022, she was officially reported missing, initiating the police investigation into her whereabouts. 

The case hit a breakthrough when neighbors reported their concerns regarding the firepit in the home's backyard where Whiteside and Fogle had resided. This information helped investigators obtain a search warrant for the property on June 12. The following investigation uncovered human remains buried beneath the firepit.

The Horry County Coroner's Office confirmed that the remains were indeed those of Penni Whiteside. Simultaneously, authorities caught Fogle in Orangeburg, about 140 miles west of Myrtle Beach.

According to USA Today, the Myrtle Beach Police Department described Whiteside's death as "a tragic loss of life and a senseless crime of violence" in their official statement. They also requested the community to "continue to pray for the family and friends of the victim."

Chief Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard told the press that the coroner's office had not determined the cause of Whiteside's death. The reason for the supposed murder also remains unknown.

Fogle made his initial court appearance on Friday, where a judge denied bond. His next court date is scheduled for October 25.

Nikolai Zaitsev, a neighbor, expressed disbelief to WMBF-TV, stating, "You have kids playing at the park here every day, and birthday parties, weddings. And I'm sure nobody around here had a clue about what was actually going on."

Authorities have not yet disclosed details about potential evidence leading to Fogle's arrest or any information about the circumstances surrounding Whiteside's death.